Is Poland moving to a wartime posture on the Ukrainian border? — Special preparations

Poland has decided to strengthen security at border crossings along its border with Ukraine following Russian attacks and has deployed military personnel there.

TodayPress TV reports that Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz made the statement.

According to him, Russia’s actions in recent days have demonstrated that they pose a threat to the security of the whole of Europe. In response, troops have been deployed to support the Border Guard. The minister also noted that soldiers from the 18th Engineer Regiment are already carrying out work to reinforce border crossings and infrastructure along the Polish-Ukrainian border.

The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said that the 4th Engineer Regiment has also been involved in the work, constructing observation and security posts near the Dorohusk, Medyka and Korczowa crossings.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stressed that in the coming months, the border crossings will operate under a “special regime.” Teresa Kubas-Hul, the voivode of Podkarpackie Voivodeship, said she would convene a crisis headquarters to address security issues at the crossings. According to her, the infrastructure will also be inspected to assess whether it would allow people to be evacuated quickly in the event of an emergency.

Meanwhile, General Jacek Szcząchor, commander of the Nadbużański Border Guard Unit, instructed that helmets and bulletproof vests be issued to border-crossing personnel and that shelters be identified.

It should be recalled that on September 13, during Russia’s attack on Ukraine, one unmanned aerial vehicle crashed 1 kilometre from the Polish border, while a second fell 5 kilometres away. A third UAV struck a Kyiv-Warsaw train at the “Yahodyn” station in Ukraine’s Volyn region. The passengers were evacuated 15 minutes before the strike, and no one was injured.

Ukrainian officials said that the intended target of the strike may have been a diplomatic train that had departed the station earlier than scheduled. Among its passengers were former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Günter Sautter, the German chancellor’s adviser on foreign policy and security affairs. Former CIA Director David Petraeus was on another train at the station at the time.

During the attack, Polish military forces scrambled fighter jets.

Aysel Matlab